By Mary Lynne Murray
Reprinted from Contra Costa Times, August 17, 2002
THESE ARE TRYING TIMES, when we mix the dog days of summer with
the hustle-bustle of fall and back-to-school. Daily living becomes
a juggling act for many families. These organizing tips might
be the preventive maintenance needed to help your household run
smoothly this school year.
Write your child's name on his or her things. I know this is basic,
yet school "lost and found" sites are full of unnamed
items. Outerwear -- sweatshirts, jackets, sweaters, etc. -- needs
the last name and first initial written on the garment tag. Backpacks,
lunch boxes, ice-packs and thermoses should also be ID'd.
Stick-on labels with your child's name can be easily made on the
computer or with a labelmaker from office-supply stores or catalogs.
Labels are handy for books, binders and other special things your
child uses at school. Plus, kids love to see their name in official
print.
Despite the wonderful efficiency of registration, parents need
to complete emergency papers each year their child is in school.
Personally, I loathe filling out papers that require me to hunt
for phone and insurance numbers, addresses and other necessary
information. Usually, this information is the same each year,
yet who remembers all those numbers? Keep a copy of the forms
you complete (scan and store in your computer, or photocopy),
and you won't have to track it down next year, and the next, and
the next, until graduation.
As the children bring home information about field trips and school
projects, transfer the dates to a central calendar. For some families,
a wall calendar or dry-erase calendar board will work. Still others
rely on Mom or Dad's daily planner. But Julie Ellis, who teaches
at Buena Vista Elementary in Walnut Creek, says, "The visual
reminder of a calendar can be very helpful in keeping your child
on track with schoolwork."
Prepare ahead as much as possible. Kids' clothes can be set out,
eliminating wardrobe hassles. Danielle, a mother of preschoolers,
swears by a hanging organizer. Sold for storing sweaters, she
puts clothes (shirts, pants, socks and underwear) for each school
day together in separate cubbies.
Lunches can be partially assembled, gathering drinks and packaged
items the night before, and making the sandwich in the morning
for freshness. If your child buys lunch at school, purchasing
lunch tickets in advance is the best way to avoid morning "where's
my lunch money?" madness. Keep water bottles ready and cold
for quick retrieval.
Does your child take medications or vitamins? Consider pillboxes
with a slot for each day of the week. Load the box on Sunday,
and there's no need to wonder if he took his medication on any
given day.
Have backpacks and sports bags loaded and near the door with
any special projects needed for the next day.
Note: Weigh your child's backpack. Doctors suggest that
backpacks not exceed 10 percent of the child's body weight. Padded
shoulder straps and a waist belt help distribute the weight evenly.
For chronic cases, consider a backpack on wheels.
There are several ways to corral the paper that
little Johnny lugs home.
- Use tiered baskets kept in a central location. Kids can learn
basic organizing skills by sorting through their backpacks daily
and placing papers in the appropriate baskets. Papers that need
to be signed by the parent can be in one basket, and then placed
in the backpack for return to school. A second basket can be
for your child's returned schoolwork. After reviewing, remember
to be selective about what papers you save.
- Try a binder system with dividers for each child's extracurricular
papers -- game schedules, team rosters, scout meetings (you'll
need a hole-punch to file papers). This method takes very little
storage space and keeps the papers in good condition. Its effectiveness
will be determined by your child unloading his backpack daily
and passing papers along to you. Remember to weed out the binder
as events pass.
- Magnetic clips -- one per child, on the fridge -- are my personal
favorite. Keep class schedules, fliers for school events, and
the annual school-district calendar (essential for planning
vacations and doctor appointments). Place in date order, with
the most current event on top. Clips can also be used on a bulletin
board.
- Locker solutions . Is your high-school or middle-school student
complaining about jammed locker space? Get space extenders (at
Target and OfficeMax) for lockers that triple space by dividing
it with shelves.
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